The Sound of White
by autumnOTH
Summary: Brooke manages to find solace in an unlikely pair of arms. Jake & Brooke fic, oneshot.


Okay guys, here's another one of my fics, which I wrote for a challenge on another board.

It's a one-shot, simple Jake/Brooke songfic. I've never, ever, written a Jake and Brooke one before because of the avid Nathan/Haley-er that I am, so doing this was rather different, but lotsa fun for me . I just kinda sat down for this challenge, and wrote this one in one sitting; hopefully it meets the standards that Jake/Brooke fans have around here

Disclaimer: I do not own neither characters, but I sure wish I owned Jake. They belong to Schwahn and his genius team. The beautiful song lyrics used are from Missy Higgins' 'The Sound of White'.

Here we go:

**The Sound of White**

_Like a freeze-dried rose,  
You will never be _

She remembered how he had showed up at her doorstep. She had been broken-down, lost and wildly searching for some form of retribution. It had been cold outside, numbing even. But somehow, nothing compared to the dull solid thud she felt inside.

_What you were;  
What you were to me in memory _

"What-" her words had gotten caught in her throat as the sight of him took away all sense of speech. He was even more beautiful than she had realised.

The corners of his mouth curved up slightly, and he held out a hand, his fingers clutched around the stem of a single blood-red rose. The rose, was the epitome of perfection within itself; its stem without thorns, each petal unwounded. "I- I just wanted to see how you were doing," he had said softly to her, his eyes searching hers for approval.

She had bitten down on her lower lip, so hard that she had felt the taste of blood on her tongue. She had wanted to laugh it off with one of her signature flippant remarks, which she had perfected. She had wanted to toss her hair unaffectedly, stare him down, and act like she didn't care. But she knew that he would see right through it. Because he just would. That was how he was. Finally, she stepped aside, and held out the door for him to enter.

Brooke Davis never let anyone into her personal space. She considered it an invasion of her privacy, but it was a habit, a quirk that was far more symbolic than she ever imagined it to be. She was cool, calm and calculative, and as a ground rule, never let anyone in too close. No one ever invaded her feelings. But even the greats had their flaws. That was where they had gotten her this time. Peyton and Lucas; it had been like a blow, knocking all the air out of her, where it hurt the most.

That night, her eyes had followed him around as he walked right into her home, her life. Where no one had ever been. He cut a menacing figure in her room. Tall, broad, muscular. He stared at her, and into her with an intensity that made her tremble. Nobody ever made Brooke tremble.

Until now. Until she had let Jake Jagielski in.

He held out the rose to her. "You might want to put this into water?" he asked, in his lilting voice.

She nodded, her eyes travelling around the room, and landing on the glass of water she had set on her dressing table. Two small white pills lay next to it. Her ode to sleep for many nights now.

She reached out to take it from him, but he touched the rose to her full, plump lips, taking her by surprise. "It's perfect," he had whispered hoarsely. "Just like you are."

And it was that simple whisper, and that gentle touch alone, that had brought tears to Brooke Davis' eyes.

_  
But if I listen to the dark,  
You'll embrace me like a star_

He seemed real to her. He had been real to her. She still remembered the way he had touched the rose to her eyelids, and gently brushed his lips against hers. He was warm, and passionate, and ignited her in a way she never knew she could. He gave and gave, without wanting in return. And that only made her want to give her all to him.

_Envelope me, envelope me_

She loved lying next to him, their naked skin on skin. He held her so close, so tight that she could feel the beating of his heart under her palm. He sang to her, night after night, until her eyes gave way to the power of sleep.

_If things get real for me down here,  
Promise to take me to before you went away,  
If only for a day_

It was then, that maybe she had learnt how to love and be loved.

_If things get real for me down here,  
Promise to take me back to the tune,  
We played before you went away_

_---_

**  
**

The night was peaceful. No crickets out on their nightly rounds. No sounds of the solitary car driving by. Nothing. The silence, was almost deafening. He sighed as he watched Jenny sleep peacefully in the crib next to his bed, her little chest rising and falling with every intake of breath she took. He loved her with all his might, all his heart. And this was where he wanted to be. With his precious daughter. That really should be enough for him.

_And if I listen to, the sound of white,  
Sometimes I hear your smile, and breathe your light._

But it wasn't. He wanted them both. Was it selfish to think it? Maybe, but he knew that once he stepped into Brooke's life, he would never be able to let her go. Perhaps it was human nature to want something you could never have.

He had only been a child when he first met her. Even then, she was the epitome of perfection to his young heart. His eyes followed her throughout middle school, and then throughout high school. In between classes, lunch, parties; he watched her. He was no stalker, but she had intrigued him.

She was beautiful. And he could tell that, at the mere age of seven when he had first laid eyes on her, she was the girl he could love for the rest of his life.

_If I listen to, the sound of white,  
You're my mystery_

She had four different smiles which he knew like the back of his hand. There was her cocky, signature smirk, used daily at the slightest remark, reminding people that they were beneath her. There was the tight smile, which didn't quite reach her eyes, reserved only for the people she didn't think important. There was the one where she was happy about something that the world didn't know, when a smile niggled at her lips throughout the day, and she held an extra glint in her eyes. And then there was the one where she laughed out loud, without any qualms; nothing held her back. That was when her entire face lit up. God, he loved it.

_  
One mystery, my mystery_

She seemed like she had it all. Money, beauty, popularity. But he knew that there was more to her than just that outer sheet of physicality. He saw through her airs and graces, her many farces and layers. Beneath all that, was someone very much like himself, trying to find her way through the world. Like him, she made mistakes, she stumbled and she fell. And she longed someday, to hop off the pedestal that the whole of Tree Hill High had placed her on.

He wanted to hold out his hand to her as she did it.

_My mystery, my mystery_

He had been the luckiest man alive when she had let him in. Into crevices of her heart that nobody had ever been close to grazing. He had loved her. And she had loved him back.

But life had a way of taking things away. Forcing choice between two things which held equal fort. Jenny was his own flesh and blood, and he couldn't let her go. Brooke had understood, when he had told her. Not that it had mitigated the pain of loss in any way.

_My silence solidifies,  
Until that hollow void erases you,  
Erases you, so I can't feel at all;  
But if I never felt again, at least that nothingness,  
Will end the painful dream, of you and me_

He sighed again, and wondered what she was doing.

_And if I listen to, the sound of white  
Sometimes I hear your smile, and breathe your light. _

Many miles away, she sighed too, looking out of the window.

_If I listen to, the sound of white  
Sometimes I hear your smile, and breathe your light._

She too, wondered what he was doing.

_And if I listen to, the sound of white sometimes  
I hear your smile, and breathe your light. _

He was listening to sound of white. Just like she was.

---

I'm really nervous about this one, cause it's my first Jake/Brooke, so I'd really appreciate it if you guys let me know what you think!


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